Election Result

New Margin: ALP 12.2%

MP

Tony Zappia (ALP) since 2007.

Profile

Makin is based in the north-west growth corridor of Adelaide, squeezed between Grand Junction Road, Main North Road and the Adelaide Hills. It includes the suburbs of Para Hills, Para Vista, Modbury, Salisbury East, Salisbury Heights, Tea Tree Gully and the new suburbs of Wynn Vale, Surrey Downs and Golden Grove. Covers 115 sq.km.

History/Trivia

A new electorate created in 1984, Makin was named after Norman Makin, member for Hindmarsh, Sturt and Bonython (1919-46, 1954-63), Speaker (1929-32) and Ambassador to Washington (1946-51). Makin was held from its creation through to 1996 by Labor MP Peter Duncan, a former state Attorney-General. He was defeated in 1996 by the Liberal Party's Trish Draper, and Makin was to remain a key South Australian mortgage belt seat throughout the years of the Howard government. After her 1996 victory, Draper narrowly retained Makin at the 1998 election and increased her majority in 2001. Draper suffered a 2.7% swing against her in 2004, the largest swing to Labor in the state, due in part to newspaper headlines that followed a decision by Draper to take her partner on an overseas parliamentary study tour. The status of her relationship, her partner's past business affairs, and whether any public good was gained from the trip, all becoming matters of debate. Draper retired at the 2007 election when Makin was won by Labor's Tony Zappia at his second attempt. Draper went on to contest the marginal Labor seat of Newland at the 2010 state election, when the issues from 2004 re-surfaced, and Draper's failure to win Newland played a key part in the re-election of the Rann Labor government.

Assessment

Labor retain.

2010 BALLOT PAPER (8 Candidates)

Candidate Name

Party

ROSE, Jasemin

The Greens

GAMEAU, Michael

Liberal Democrats (LDP)

STEWART, Robert Gordon

The Climate Sceptics

HORVAT, Anton

One Nation

ZAPPIA, Tony

Australian Labor Party

DAVIES, Liz

Liberal

RICH, Wayne Roderick

Australian Democrats

POTTER, Mark

Family First

CANDIDATES

Jasemin Rose

Greens

Rose has lived locally since migrating from South Africa in 1964 because of the apartheid regime. A teacher/librarian, she managed the Tea Tree Gully Toy library for 24 years and has worked for better services for the disabled, socially disadvantaged and Aboriginal people. Rose has received a Centenary Medal for service to the environment including her work as a Past President of the Conservation Council of SA and five other groups. She has also been a Councillor on the Adelaide Hills Council and has represented the community on numerous government boards and committees, including the SA Water Customer Advisory Council.

Gameau is a former Squadron Leader with a 19 year career in the Royal Australian Air Force. In 2003 Gameau received a commendation for his role as the Tactical Coordinator with the first Orion crew deployed to the Middle East for the Gulf War. He has also spent seven years in Canberra where he gained experience working in the Department of Defence. Gameau is currently a professional services contractor in the Defence sector. He grew up, was educated and played football in the Makin electorate.

Stewart was an Engineering and Environmental Risk Surveyor to Insurers at Lloyds in Asia for 22 years. Born and educated in Adelaide, he is a Korean War Veteran and a one time Project Manager for large irrigation properties. He is an advocate of waterproofing the nation from Lake Argyll in Western Australia.

Aged 58, Zappia migrated to Adelaide with his parents as an infant and has lived in the local suburb of Pooraka ever since. He was elected Mayor of Salisbury in 1997 and held the position for a decade until his election to parliament in 2007. Zappia worked in banking before establishing the Funlife Fitness Centre at Ingle Farm in 1979, and the Fairview Fitness Centre at Fairview Park in 1982. Zappia has held a record 10 National Championships in power lifting and continues to mentor young power lifters. Ahead of the 2004 election, Zappia was considered the best candidate for the seat, but factional deals had shut him out of a chance of winning pre-selection. It took a few hardheads to shake the Labor Party factional tree into accepting that choosing a good local candidate was a smart idea if Labor hoped to win this key marginal electorate. Zappia failed to win but did achieve a 2.7% swing in 2004, returning to win with an 8.6% swing in 2007, the largest swing to Labor in Adelaide.

Davies has lived in the local area for 25 and as a mother of three states that she understands the personal and financial pressures of the electorate. Davies has a business background in areas as diverse as tourism, environmental waste management and construction. She is the Founding Director of storage businesses Storpac Pty Ltd and Self Storage Australia. Davies has made a name for herself in the run up to the election by campaigning in a car with pink batts tied on the roof in protest at the government's handling of the roof insulation program.

Rich was born and raised in Elizabeth, and served in the Australian Navy immediately after leaving school. He went on to serve for 20 years as a police officer in South Australia, Queensland and Victoria, achieving the rank of Sergeant and receiving the Australian Service Medal and the Queensland Police Service Medal. These days he works as a Team Leader in local government and lives in Craigmore.